FLYERS HAVE WEEK OF - RETOOL LINEUP
Commodore could return
The OTHL schedulers have handed the Philadelphia Flyers a week off from players games … the idle days has prompted GM Siemsen to re-tool the lineup in preparations for the last 20 games of the season … and next season.
Karlis Skrastins and his 2 million dollar contract was ruled to be the odd man out on the deep Flyers’ blue line and was subsequently sacrificed in order to facilitate other moves that would ensue.
Martin Havlat was acquired in a trade that sent Patrice Bergeron to Atlanta. Bergeron’s now former linemate Michael Ryder was sent to Calgary along with Wade Dubielewicz. In return winger Ruslan Fedotenko and goalie Danny Sabourin was acquired … the Flyers and Flames will swap first round picks prior to the Entry Draft should this be favourable to the Flyers. The latest addition to the Flyers’ lineup is still unconfirmed – but Flyers management believe they have secured the acquisition of center Mike Ribeiro from The Tampa Bay Lightning for a youth package involving Martin Hanzal, Ryan Parent and Joel Gistedt.
When/if the Ribeiro acquisition is authorized by league officials the Flyers will be able to line up like this :
Prospal – Langkow – Havlat
Brunette – Ribeiro – Williams
Tkachuk – Malhotra – Fedotenko
Radivojevic – McCauley - Kostopoulos
Lidstrom – Smith
Gonchar – Vishnevsky
Robidas – Rachunek
Mason
Harding
GM Bo Siemsen “It has been a busy few days for us. We have made changes on the right wing and at center. I think we are better of than we were a few days ago. It has cost us some prospects, but we didn’t give away the store completely. We did manage to get a few assets for the future in return too. We have (hopefully) added Mike Ribeiro at center. He’s a talented player, just like Bergeron was … but we feel Mike has a better head on his shoulders. On the right wing Martin Havlat is a more prolific scorer than Michael Ryder AND we managed to find a good supplier of spare bodyparts to help us repair Havlat whenever he breaks down every few weeks. Fedotenko adds a scoring threat on the checking lines.”
“We dealt away Karlis Skrastins to cut salary. He was expendable and it has enabled us to make these trade and we will also be recalling Josh Harding. We felt bad about having him with the Phantoms he is ready to play in the OTHL“
“One remaining unresolved issue is Daymond Langkow. We are very happy with his performance this season. He has been thoroughly professional and reliable. We do however realize that we live in a salary cap world and we have to keep our options open. If a team comes to us with an attractive offer we have to consider it. We appreciate what he has done for us this season but we may not be able to afford in our budget for next season. This is his job and he has to look after himself, but in an ideal world we would be able to work it out and hold on to him. We are still hopeful.”
* other news
Following a recent flurry of injuries the Flyers’ are getting back to healthy. Only Mike Commodore remains on injury reserve. The strong defenseman was ruled out for the remainder of the season but a determined rehabilitation effort has prompted the medical staff in Philadelphia to adjust the timetable for his recovery. He is now listed as possible to play before the end of the regular season and should the Flyers sneak into the playoffs he is now likely to be ready.